The Quince Tree

Freezing

2012-02-11T14:58:00.000Z

I've been meaning to write a post about how I use my freezer for ages. As it is freezing outside I thought to day would be a good time.

I love my freezer and would never want to be without it. I have a big freezer. I can't remember its capacity but suffice to say it is big enough to store a body. If I needed to.

Our house has an integral garage with a door to the kitchen. This is extremely convenient and means I can use the garage for extra food storage. I have my preserves shelf in there, a big sack of potatoes, a basket of onions and apples and my freezer.

There are several ways you can use your freezer.
1). You can fill it with ready-made frozen meals, desserts and cakes. This option has never held much appeal for me, but then I like to cook.

2). You can fill it with meals you have cooked. I don't do this but would if I had a full-time job. Some people practise 'once a month cooking' where they spend a couple of days doing nothing but cooking multiple meals for their freezers. There are plenty of sites on the internet showing you exactly how to do this, although they do all seem to be North American.
An easier, less stressful way to fill a freezer with home made meals is to simply triple up a meal once a week, say on a Sunday when you have more time. It takes no more time to make chilli for 12 than it does to make it for 4. Portion up the extra two meals and freeze them. After a few weeks you will have a variety of home made ready meals in your freezer.

3). My preferred freezer-filling method is to fill it with ingredients and leftovers which I can use to build meals.
The following is a list of things I like to have in the freezer depending on budget and space.

peas and sweetcorn are always in my freezer.
broad beans, soya beans
berries -home grown in the summer
fruit purées- damson, apple and quince
black bananas - great for making banana cakes
chickpeas, kidney beans and other beans - I soak and cook a whole packet of dried beans at once and then freeze them on a baking sheet until hard enough to gather into a bag. I can then add them straight to stews and soups, no need to thaw. Cheaper than tins.
chicken -whole and breasts
mince
sausages
chicken livers
salmon fillets
prawns
all-butter puff pastry
bread -home made loaves and bought pittas
breadcrumbs and bread cubes which I make with the crusts of my home made loaves. I use the cubes to make croutons for soup.
stock - I make stock with the bones of all chickens and other birds I cook whole. If I boil a gammon joint I add a carrot and an onion to the water and then save it after the meat is cooked for stock.
pastry - although I don't often make pastry for the freezer I do freeze leftover raw pastry. When there's enough to make a pie or a tart I defrost it and bake.
crumble - I often make lots of crumble mix and freeze it in a bag for easy hot puds.
egg whites - I always seem to have a couple of egg whites in the freezer leftover from a recipe which required only yolks. Make sure you write the number of egg whites on the container then you can use them for meringues.
fresh herbs - If I have bought fresh herbs and not got round to using them I chop them up and freeze in an ice cube tray with water.
ginger - I keep peeled root ginger in a little bag in the freezer and grate it from frozen to use in a recipe.
lemon juice - spare lemon halves can be squeezed and the juice frozen in an ice cube tray. You can also freeze leftover wine but I never have leftover wine.
grated cheese - hard cheeses freeze well grated which is jolly useful if you want to keep cheese aside for cooking but find someone has eaten it all in their sandwiches.
vegetable hash - I find this extremely useful, details in this post
tomato sauce -I've just discovered a brilliant way of making this which I intend to write about sometime next week. Incredibly useful for all sorts of recipes.
single servings of leftover meals - good for my lunches or more often to feed constantly starving teenage boys.
cakes and muffins - most cakes and biscuits freeze really well. I like to bake in big batches and freeze the extras.
milk- for emergencies. It takes ages to defrost so I freeze the two pint size.
yogurt in 2 tablespoon amounts for starting off home made yogurt.
ice lollies -home made and usually only in the summer but I have elderberry lollies in the freezer at the moment.
ice cubes - for gin and tonics

A word on freezing and food safety.
I'm no expert but I do know this; food cannot go off in the freezer if your freezer is working correctly. Food can deteriorate in quality the longer it is left in the freezer but it will not become dangerous to eat.
You are not supposed to defrost food and then refreeze it without cooking it first. While I would never take a risk with meat or fish I do refreeze bread all the time.

In my freezer today.

2 pints of milk, 4 loaves of bread (in the blue bags), vegetable hash in the unlabelled tubs, leftover mashed potato, duck stock, bags of cooked beans (not visible), container of too-sweet leftover birthday cake, ice blocks, ice cream machine bowl (top right), little tubs of elderberry syrup and elderberry lollies

3 egg whites, cubes of mint, soya beans, broad beans, petits pois, sweetcorn (need to buy more peas and sweetcorn), breadcrumbs, ginger, tubs of apple and quince purée, blueberries, cranberries, pitta bread, black bananas, ice cubes (alas no gin nor tonic in the house), and there are also tubs of ham stock in there out of sight.

This morning there were two small lumps of pastry and a bag of cooked gammon. These will be made into a tart for dinner tonight.

What do you freeze? Any good ideas I've overlooked?

The Truth

2012-02-08T15:34:00.002Z

It may look absolutely delicious, but the truth is that after about four mouthfuls even a thin sliver of a cake like this will make you feel sick.

It's the icing. He wanted layers you see, and to be sure of having enough I used nearly a pound and a half of icing sugar and 12 oz of butter. The mints on the top don't help.

No one could eat very much of it.

In future I am going to resist demands for heavily iced cakes and stick to simple cakes like this one.

Fifteen

2012-02-07T21:13:00.001Z

I forgot to buy cake candles. Rummaging in the depths of my baking cupboard I unearthed a motley collection of old candles. Crossing my fingers I counted them. Fifteen exactly. Lucky I had a boy with a fifteenth birthday to celebrate.

Tom requested a minty chocolate cake and Chinese food for his birthday dinner.

I bought a duck and flung it in the oven for five hours. Then I shredded it, heated some Chinese pancakes in the microwave, chopped a few spring onions and some cucumber and opened a jar of hoisin. Thank you Nigella (Nigella Express page 112).

I also made prawn toasts using this recipe. It was really easy but I skipped the deep frying and fried them in a frying pan in about half an inch of oil. They browned rather quickly but were incredibly good.

To complete the oriental theme Tom received a box of goodies from Japan Centre.

He now has an msg induced headache.

Big Golden Sunset

2012-02-03T17:19:00.000Z

Too good to miss.

Big Golden Chips

2012-02-02T19:51:00.000Z

I dislike deep frying so when I make chips for the family I bake them. Usually I cut unpeeled potatoes into wedges, toss them into a bowl, dribble a little olive oil and mix with my hands. Then I tip them onto a baking sheet and bake in a hot oven for about half an hour. Sometimes I add garlic and rosemary or some spices. They are much healthier this way as you can get away with a just a splash of oil.

Sometimes though, the urge for big golden crunchy chips comes over us.

When this happens I make roast chips. I make them exactly as I make roast potatoes, the only difference is the way they are cut.

Main crop spuds are best. These are Marfona which I buy in 20 kilo sacks for £4 from a farm shop.

I peel them and cut them into wedges -6-8 per potato.

Next I parboil them. This softens and roughs up the edges of the potatoes which is the key to good crunch.

Bring them to the boil and let them boil for about 3-5 minutes.

While the potatoes are boiling heat up the oil in a roasting tin or a sturdy baking tray with a deepish rim. You need to coat the tins with oil but it doesn't need to be any deeper than about 2 mm at the most. Put the tins in a very hot oven, I set my fan oven to 200°c which is 220°c in a conventional oven. I made a lot of chips so I used both my roasting tins and a baking tray.

After the potatoes have had their 3-5 mins boiling drain them and then tip them back into the pot to dry off. Put the lid on and put the pot back on the hob over a low heat. Holding the lid on with oven gloves shake the pot vigorously over the heat. This dries the potatoes and scuffs up their edges.

Now carefully take the roasting tins out of the oven. Place the chips carefully in the tins. I used long-handled tongs for this but still managed to splash oil all over my jumper. Make sure each chip has its own space on the tray so that it gets its share of the oil. Turn them gently to coat with oil.

Put them back in the oven (don't alter the temperature) and leave them to bake for about 30 mins.

Surely everyone loves a big golden chip?

Well maybe not everyone.

Torpor

2012-01-31T10:33:00.001Z

Torpor.n. A state of mental or physical inactivity.

As the stinkingcold slowly dries up (thank you for your concern by the way) I find myself disinclined to take photographs or to sit down and write stuff.

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible, meanwhile here is January's sampler.

Poorly

2012-01-26T15:19:00.003Z

We are all a bit poorly here. We have contracted what is commonly know as astinkingcold.

George is over the worst and back at college. Charlie has taken it to work with him but the rest of us are at home.

We have been doing jigsaws,

eating bought biscuits and licking elderberry lollies.

And wondering if we should start drinking Ovaltine.

I've never had Ovaltine (or Horlicks), I'm more of a hot toddy girl. I was, however, able to make Katie and Tom fall about laughing with my rendition of the Ovaltiney song. I swear I sound exactly like Celia Johnson.

And Tom has just shown us his impression of a fainting goat. A sure sign that he is recovering.

I'm afraid the video isn't very good quality but it made us laugh like hyenas.

Despite all the jollity here, I am in no mood for cooking. Spaghetti and cheese is about all I can manage tonight.

FAQs

2012-01-24T12:43:00.004Z

Today it is a drippy day both inside and outside.

Inside I have a teenager with a drippy nose lying on the sofa (for which he is too big), and clutching a mug of lemsip.

Outside there are raindrops; far more photogenic.

Today we are two years old.

I think two is old enough for an FAQ page.

The most frequently asked question directed at me is this one

What's for tea?

To which the answer is one of the following;

sausages/roast chicken/food

This question makes me tired. It really does, particularly as it is asked by each child in turn. If I get really irritated by it Charlie joins in too.

As for FAQs directed at The Quince Tree me rather than the mum me they are these:

Where can I buy a quince tree?

I bought mine from a specialist fruit nursery like this one.

What variety is your quince tree?

I think it is Vranja but it could be Meeche's Prolific. I'm sorry I can't be more definite. I've looked at pictures of both and it looks like both. Both are good culinary varieties.

I have planted a quince tree, when will it produce fruit?

I think mine had been planted three years before it fruited. It produced just one fruit and then the year after that about a dozen and the year after that fifty odd. Since then it produces 200-300 which is, as they say, more than enough.

Where can I buy quinces?

Waitrose stock them in season -October/November. They used to stock Turkish quinces but last year I noticed they were English. Middle Eastern groceries may have them too, or you could try farm shops.

How do I cook quinces?

Have a browse through these posts.

What do quinces taste like?
They taste like quinces. I don't think they taste like any other fruit and why should they? Apples don't taste of pears after all. They are often described as honeyed but to me they taste of quince.

Can you put a link on your blog to my financial services site/ my weight loss miracle pill site/ my cookery site?

No I can't. I don't have any advertising on my blog.

Can I write a post for your blog ?

No thank you. This blog is my own, my precious.

What camera do you use?

I use a Canon EOS 550D. Most of my pictures, particularly food pictures, are taken with a Canon EF-S 60mm Macro lens. Sometimes I use a Canon EF-S 55-250mm zoom lens.

All the pictures on the blog prior to 10th December 2010 were taken with a Canon IXUS point and shoot, a jolly good little camera.

I use the photo-editing software that came with the camera to crop and sometimes lighten photos. I don't use any photography equipment at the moment.

How do you find the time to do all that cooking?

I don't have paid employment. Cooking and running my home is my work. Besides you make time for the things you enjoy which is why I cook more than I clean.

Will you write a cookbook one day?
Maybe.

And the most frequently asked question of all is

Can I be your lodger?

No. Sorry. Not even if you do all the washing up. But thanks for the compliment!

Fried Egg and Chorizo Sandwich

2012-01-23T19:04:00.001Z

This went down really well with my lot this evening.

Inspired by this.

I don't really enjoy frying eggs. They spit at me, and the white of one egg invariably remains inexplicably translucent and jelly-like while that of its neighbour is firm and opaque. I generally end up flipping it 'over easy' American-style, but I don't really like them like that. I like a firm white and a runny yolk.

I may dislike frying eggs, but I do love eating them when the mood strikes. As it did today.

Use a good crusty roll. Mine call themselves 'pains rustique'. They were pretty big so I cut them in half crossways and served each person one half.

I used salami style chorizo which I frizzled briefly on a hot frying pan before frying my eggs.

The children had just chorizo and egg in their sandwiches, but for me and Charlie I put a layer of rocket on the bread followed by a roasted red pepper (from a jar but you could roast your own peppers, and if I were making this in the summer when UK peppers are available I would do that), before adding the chorizo and finally the egg.

Quick, easy and fabulous.

Doing Porridge

2012-01-21T13:57:00.006Z

Comfort and cosiness is the theme of this month's Making Winter project which will be hosted by Silverpebble starting on Monday.
When I saw Charlotte's lovely photo of a steaming bowl of porridge I was reminded how comforting a bowl of porridge was on a cold January morning. It's also an extremely quick breakfast especially if you are only making it for one or two people. I've never seen the point of instant oats, or pre-measured individual servings. Buy a bag of plain porridge oats and save yourself packaging and money.

To make a bowl of porridge for one person put 3 tablespoons of oats in a small non-stick pan with 6 fl oz of milk or water (or a combination of the two). Turn the heat to medium-high and it will start to bubble within a minute or two. Let it bubble for 2-3 minutes more, stirring often. Turn the heat down if it seems to be bubbling too fiercely. Add more liquid if it gets too thick.
Scrape it into a bowl and drizzle with golden syrup, honey, a sprinkle of brown sugar or salt if you are a traditionalist. You could also try one of these ideas.

Mincemeat
This was a really delicious combination. Just dollop a spoonful of mincemeat on top of your porridge.

Nutella and hazelnuts
A dessertspoonful of Nutella stirred into the porridge and topped with chopped hazelnuts.

Banana and coconut
Add a tablespoon of desiccated coconut to the oats and cook them together. Then stir in half a mashed banana and top with the other half. Finish with a sprinkle of coconut and some brown sugar.

Gingerbread
Add a teaspoon of black treacle and a teaspoon of golden syrup to the porridge as cook along with a pinch of ground ginger, a pinch of cinnamon, and a pinch of mixed spice. Finish with a swirl of black treacle.

Blueberry, pecan and maple
Put a handful of blueberries in to the porridge as it cooks so that they burst and release their juices.
Then sprinkle on some chopped pecans and pour on a little maple syrup.

Other ideas

Apple (or quince) purée and cinnamon
Dried cranberries, flaked almonds and honey
Chocolate chip and banana
Nut butter and brown sugar
Pear and ginger
Just jam

In need of some comfort this winter?
Make yourself a bowl of porridge.

A Multitude of Small Delights

2012-01-18T15:08:00.004Z

When I was teaching in a Birmingham primary school I had the good fortune to be sent on a course at Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The course was one day a week for several weeks and was a very welcome change from the chalk-face*. The theme of the course was to explore ways in which the natural environment could be used to spark children's creativity. Or some such. All I remember was that it meant one day off a week, a lie-in, as the Botty Gardens were nearer to my home than school, and that it was jolly good fun.

One day we were given a matchbox each and asked to go into the gardens and fill it with as many different colours as possible. Each colour had to be natural and we weren't allowed to pick anything from a plant.

We did this activity in the spring and so were able to find petals of varying hues, but even in January, in a tiny garden it is possible to find a surprisingly wide range of colours.

This odd little task, pointless you might say, was curiously restorative. Spending time alone, outdoors, listening to the birds, smelling the damp earth, feeling the fresh air on my face whilst engaged upon some purposeful activity felt good, and as I arranged my colour samples I was reminded of the quotation from Baudelaire which Alice has on her blog;

A multitude of small delights constitute happiness.

*Chalk and blackboards have, apparently, been replaced by interactive whiteboards and other new-fangled gadgetry.

Winter Weekend

2012-01-15T21:06:00.000Z

At last it feels like winter.

The frost has remained on the ground in our little garden all weekend.

A single quince still clings to the tree.

After I took my photos I retreated to the warmth and comfort of my kitchen to cook some winter food.

Why not make a meal of mash?

I fried some onion slowly in butter until sweet and melting. Then I added a couple of cloves of crushed garlic.

It was all smelling very delicious. While this was happening I had a pan of potatoes on the boil -lots of potatoes. When they were cooked I drained them, dried them over a low heat and mashed them with butter and milk. Then I stirred in the onion and a heap of grated cheddar.

I spread it in a baking dish, scattered more cheese on top and put it in the oven to brown.

It was good.

Some crisply cooked bacon stirred into the mash would have made it really good.

Bacon makes most things better.

For supper this evening I made a simple chicken cobbler. I browned a chicken breast for each person in some butter and put them aside. Then I added a tub of my vegetable hash (a chopped onion would work just as well) and a clove of garlic to the pan. After a few minutes I added a tablespoonful of flour and stirred it into the oniony mixture. I added about 15 fl oz of chicken stock a little at a time stirring well with each addition to make a creamy sauce. Then I put the chicken back in the pan along with a couple of chopped carrots and some mushrooms. When it was all bubbling I sloshed in a slug of white wine and seasoned it before putting the lid on and putting it in the oven for half an hour at 180°c (160°c fan).

While it was in the oven I made the cobbler topping. I used an easy drop biscuit recipe which I often make with cheese to serve with soup.

Combine 9 oz plain flour, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 cup of grated cheese ( cheese is optional -fill an 8 fl oz measure to obtain a cup).

Rub in 2 oz of butter and then stir in 8 fl oz of milk. The mixture will be sticky.

When the chicken has had its half hour in the oven stir in a handful of frozen peas and a handful of sweetcorn then dollop spoonfuls of the cobbler dough onto the chicken stew and put back in the oven without the lid at 220°c (200°c fan) for about 15mins.

If you want to serve these drop biscuits dry then dollop them onto a greased baking tray and bake for 10-12 mins. They are so easy and so quick to make and just the thing for a wintry lunch with soup.

Evening Skies

2012-01-13T07:44:00.001Z

We had more of the same in the evening.

It's difficult to get a tree-free shot looking west.

Recipe Index

I have been compiling a recipe index which you can find on my page bar under my banner picture.

It's not alphabetical, just a list. There are more categories to come.

Morning Skies

2012-01-12T09:11:00.003Z

There's always something to lift the spirits, if you look.

Pictures taken at about 8 am this morning.

Right Now I Am....

2012-01-10T12:27:00.002Z

Watching the birds.

I had to stop putting food out for the birds after we began getting visitors of the grey whiskery, long-tailed variety. Since then we've had few bird visitors so it was a treat to see this robin enjoying a bath.

Loving my new socks. Katie is loving hers too.

We are 'sock buddies' apparently.

Eating lots of good, healthy things.

Last night spiced fish fillets with this mango salsa, carrot salad, sweetcorn and green salad. No baked potato for me, not enough room on my plate with all that veg.

Absolutely bloody starving later; had to eat two pieces of bread, butter and jam.

Finished it off with a glass of damson gin for good measure.

Reorganising my cupboards to accommodate the new mugs my children found in their Christmas stockings. If you have been paying attention you will be able to work out which mug belongs to which child.

Spending a fortune on bunches of spring flowers which had hardly any scent...

and died four days later.

Watching new Danish telly on BBC4. This is Borgen, which is a political drama all about coalition government. It may not have as much knitwear in it as The Killing did but don't let that put you off, it is excellent.

Oh, and there's Sherlock too, of course, which is perfect in every way.

Everyday Meals

2012-01-06T22:08:00.004Z

January is under way.

All my children are back at their studies, Charlie goes back to work on Monday and I will have the house to myself again. I am looking forward to listening to one of my Christmas presents.

It's nice to get back to everyday cooking in these post Christmas days.

These are pretty much the type of meals I throw at my family every day.

They're the sort of dishes that can be adapted to suit the ingredients you have on hand.

Monday

Chorizo and chickpea rice.

Cook rice, while that's happening fry some chopped red onion in some olive oil, add diced red peppers and a ring of chorizo, sliced. Fry until the chorizo starts getting crisp. Add chickpeas and peas (I added mine straight from the freezer). Stir in cooked rice.

Tuseday

Smoked mackerel, orange and beetroot salad.

Scatter some salad leaves on a serving dish, grate some beetroot over the leaves. Peel and segment an orange and throw that over the beetroot. It's easiest to do this over the serving dish so that the orange juice drips onto the salad. Break some smoked mackerel fillets into large pieces and add to the dish.

Make a dressing with olive oil, wine vinegar, mustard and honey.
This would be good with feta or goat's cheese instead of the mackerel.

My children will not eat smoked mackerel or beetroot. They had fish fingers.

Charlie wanted to know why he didn't get fish fingers as well.

Wednesday

Leek, ham and potato pie.
Inspired by this.

Roll out pastry into a large rectangle. Put a layer of mashed potato on top leaving a margin of about 3cm.

Cook some finely sliced leeks in a little water, drain well and place on top of the potato.

Scatter chopped ham on top (bacon is good too). Finish with a handful of grated cheese.

Brush the edge with milk or beaten egg and roll out another piece of pastry. Place on top of the filling and press the edges together and brush the top with more milk or egg. Bake in a hot oven for 35mins.

Thursday

Barley stew with parsnips, carrots and squash and bacon.

Fry a chopped onion or some veg hash, add some chopped bacon. Let it colour a little, then add barley and diced parsnips, carrots and squash. Pour over stock, enough to make it look like a broth. Bring to the boil then turn it down to a simmer, cover and let it cook until the stock is absorbed and the barley cooked but still with some bite.

Cranberry Buttermilk Cake

This is the cake I intended for Christmas morning. I finally got round to making it.

Lovely served warm.

Resolutions

2012-01-02T20:47:00.000Z

New year, new start.

'What's your new year's resolution Tom?'

'I'm going to do lots of revision, work really hard at school and be a better boy'

'OK, good plan, but you are already an excellent boy'

'I know'

'George, what's your new year's resolution?'

'What's the point, I'll have forgotten by tomorrow'

'You don't think you should endeavour to study harder at college and not spend your free afternoons playing Skyrim?'

'Not really'

'Katie, what about you?'

'Errmmm, wash my lunchbox up?'

'I should think so. How long has that been in your school bag?'

'Errmm two weeks'

'You could also add; putting my clothes away, not leaving my homework until the last minute and cleaning my teeth'

Charlie, what's your new year's resolution?'

' Should I have one?'

'Yes'

'What should it be?'

'Well I don't know'

'Well, what's yours?'

'Oh the usual; lose a shed load of weight, drink less wine, gin, vodka, beer etc, do exercise stuff, win an olympic medal and maybe write a cookbook'

'Right, d'you want some of my chocolate orange and a glass of wine?'

'Of course'.

At Year's End

2011-12-31T20:02:00.006Z

As the year draws to a close there are roses and snowdrops blooming in my garden.

Are the roses late and the snowdrops early, or are the roses early and the snowdrops late?

As Tom says, it's all rather confusering.

In the kitchen however, I know where I am.

A New Year's Eve feast to prepare.

A picnic-style deli feast.

I bought olives, hummus, roast peppers, cured meats and pitta bread.

I made a lemony feta dip (a block of feta, juice and zest of a lemon, clove of garlic, glug of olive oil all processed together) flatbread, and some salted almonds.

And piles of meringues and chocolate-ginger biscuit cake.

Before I go here is December's sampler

and a round-up of the past year here at The quince Tree

Have a very Happy New Year!

Cheese Biscuits

2011-12-30T11:40:00.002Z

Yes, I know they look like scones. But these are American biscuits.

American biscuits are made by rubbing fat into a mixture flour and baking powder, then adding milk or buttermilk to form a dough. they are cut into rounds and baked hot and quick.

Sound like scones to me.

Yet, I have seen American scone recipes, they seem richer and more complicated than ours and always seem to be cut into triangles or wedges. Triangles were once traditional here, economical too as you don't waste any dough by cutting a round into farls, but to most Brits a scone is plain, round, and about 2-3 inches in diameter. Sometimes we add dried fruit to them and sometimes we add grated cheese.

These cheese biscuits are from the wonderful cookery blog Alexandra's Kitchen.

They were very easy to make, just like scones really. The measurements were a bit strange; 3 and a half cups of flour minus 1 teaspoon, and 9 tablespoons of butter plus 1 teaspoon. The results were very good though.

Here's the recipe as I made it Britished-up for you

Big Cheese Scones

makes 10-12

1 lb 3 oz (540g) plain flour

2 tablespoons of baking powder

2 teaspoons of salt

4½ oz (125g) salted butter cut into chunks

2 big handfuls of grated cheddar

2 x 10 fl oz (284ml) cartons of buttermilk (I would think plain yogurt would work just as well)

1 beaten egg

Put the first three ingredients in a bowl and chill for half an hour in the fridge. While that's happening take the butter out of the fridge and bring to room temperature. I'm not sure how much difference doing this made to the finished scones but I did it anyway.

Next combine the butter and cheese with the dry ingredients.

The recipe requires you to use a stand-mixer with a paddle to do this. I don't have one so I used a hand mixer to get the lumps of butter as small as large peas. I ended up finishing the job with my fingers. I think the idea is to avoid handling the mixture too much with warm hands.

Next add the buttermilk and combine to make a dough.

Pat the dough out about an inch thick on a floured surface and cut out rounds using a 3 inch cutter. Do not twist the cutter as this prevents them scones from rising well.

Place the rounds of dough on two lined/greased baking trays.

Brush with beaten egg. Don't skip this step as it does make the finished scones look beautiful.

Bake at 200ºc/180ºc fan oven for 20 mins swapping the trays round after 10 mins.

Eat warm with soup and stews or use for sandwiches.

The Quince Tree at Christmas

2011-12-28T14:38:00.006Z

On Christmas Eve after boiling and baking a ham, making 4 dozen sausage rolls, another batch of florentines, an orange jelly, a trifle (including two lots of custard), and griddling chicken for supper I decided that Danish Christmas rice pudding with cranberry compote and Cranberry buttermilk breakfast cake could go hang.

They may or may not make an appearance over the next week or two.

Christmas Successes

~ Mincemeat sauce for ice cream (pictured above). I was very pleased with this quick improvised pud.

Half a jar of mincemeat, a spoonful of soft brown sugar, a knob of butter, a slug of rum and the juice of an orange heated in a small pan and poured hot over ice cream.

~ My mum was very pleased with her Christmas selection box and promptly told my dad he couldn't have any.

~ A harmonica makes a good stocking filler for a musical teenager.

~ Although horrendously expensive, a Superdry coat for an 11 year old girl is worth it because it means she now actually wears a coat when she goes outside.

Christmas Fails

~ My mum's sprouts. Sorry mum, but you know they aren't supposed to be yellow. The rest of Christmas lunch was extremely delicious though.

~ Going to watch the match by way of the pub first and the players' bar afterwards results in falling through the front door completely rat-arsed and your wife throwing your tea in the bin.

'Is dad drunk? '

'Completely'

'How long does drunkyness last?'

'Oh, I think I'll be reminding him of this one for a long, long time'

Cranberry

2011-12-23T14:48:00.006Z

I'm embracing the cranberry this Christmas. A cranberry is not just for Christmas though.

Diana Henry in her fabulous book Roast Figs Sugar Snow: Food to Warm the Soul says;

'We could do with the cranberry's tartness and piercing colour right into the spring, and they'll certainly keep that long, providing stunning sorbets and bringing bursts of flavour and brightness to crumbles, cobblers, bread-and-butter puddings, tarts, cakes and compotes (they are spectacular poached gently in a sugar syrup and mixed with slices of blood orange), right until the end of March.'

Lots of good ideas there, one of the things I love about Diana Henry is that as well as recipes she provides lots of ideas which is great for cooks like me who like to make it up as they go along.

I've already made some cranberry sauce so that we can have it in our turkey sandwiches on Christmas evening. We are going to my parents' for Christmas lunch and I'm hoping mum will provide me with some leftovers. It's the first time in about 15 years that I haven't done lunch. I'm quite relieved not to be doing it this year; remember what happened last year?. Basting one's foot with goose fat is not a good idea. Don't do it.

For our Christmas Eve pudding I am going to make Danish Christmas rice pudding with cranberry compote and almonds from Roast Figs Sugar Snow.

For breakfast on Christmas Day I am going to make cranberry buttermilk breakfast cake. Doesn't it look good? Yes, I know I dismissed special Christmas breakfasts as 'nonsense' last year, but what with not having a turkey to cook this year I though 'why not?'. The batter can be made the night before and baked in the morning while you apply yourself to unwrapping presents.

We have family coming for Boxing Day, and to drink I'm going to make a large jug of poinsettia from Nigella Christmas which is sparkling wine, grand marnier and cranberry juice.

For the non-drinkers, which now I come to think of it will probably be everyone except me, I'm making Nigella's mistletoe which is ginger beer and lime cordial.

I'm having a short break from posting, just a little one, I'll be back with pictures of food next Tuesday or Wednesday.

Merry Christmas to all my readers.

Thank you for reading and commenting I really appreciate it.

A carol from our lovely cathedral from me to you.

This Midwinter

2011-12-21T18:46:00.002Z

The wheel turns.

This Midwinter there is heat but no snow.

Last Midwinter there was snow but no heat.

This Midwinter, like last Midwinter there is damson gin and quince vodka.

This Midwinter there are Sweet Bells and A Christmas Carol.

This Midwinter there is chorizo and bean stew for supper.

This Midwinter there is the scent of pine in the air.

Christmas Selection Box

2011-12-20T15:22:00.002Z

In my selection box I have florentines.

The white chocolate ones have candied cherries and peel, almonds and walnuts.

And the dark chocolate ones have candied ginger, apricots, and almonds.

These are cranberry and white chocolate cookies adapted slightly from Nigella Christmas.

And these are chocolate mint biscuits. Made using my favourite biscuit recipe - fork biscuits from Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book. I added peppermint extract, made them a little smaller and thinner than usual, and coated them with chocolate.

A present for somebody.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

2011-12-17T17:50:00.001Z

Sparkly twinklemas

Spangly festivus

Glitteration and tinsellation

Magical winterness

Jolly jinglement

Happy enjoyness*

Crimblecrizzle*

*these two courtesy of Tom

Mince Pies

2011-12-16T14:49:00.005Z

Time to make mince pies.

I've never bought one but I have sampled a few commercial mince pies. They are a completely different beast to the homemade pie. The commercial pies I have eaten have been overwhelmingly sweet, the mincemeat too runny and syrupy, oozing all over your fingers as you eat; the pastry sweet and powdery, clumping together and sticking itself to the roof of your mouth, and invariably they are too deep making the sweetness even harder to deal with.

I like my mince pies simple and unpretentious. I don't want a 'twist' on the traditional pie. No meringue or frangipane on top, no marzipan or rum butter inside, no fancy pastry shapes and definitely no low-fat filo pastry nonsense.

I want plain unsweetened shortcrust pastry and I want mincemeat inside and nothing else.

Sometimes I use Delia Smith's quick flaky pastry for mince pies which is very good but this year I'm sticking to shortcrust. I favour half lard and half butter. Butter for flavour and lard for shortness.

If you are tempted to buy ready-made shortcrust pastry may I just say I think you are mad.

Bought pastry is more expensive and not as nice. It's made with vegetable oil not butter so you are paying more for inferior ingredients. If you think it will save you time let me tell you that it takes just ten minutes to make pastry by hand and seconds to do it in a food processor. You can make lots at the same time and freeze it.

Here I have 1 lb of plain flour, 4 oz lard and 4 oz butter.

Rub it together until it looks like fine breadcrumbs.

Add 4-5 tablespoons of cold water, bring together to form a dough. You are supposed to refrigerate it for half an hour or so before rolling but I find it much more manageable to roll it out straight away.

Use a bun tin not a muffin tin. Grease the holes lightly first.

Do not overfill -a scant tablespoon should do it.

Snip a steam-hole.

I don't worry much about how they look.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden in a hot oven 200ºc/180ºc fan oven

I made a dozen quincemeat pies and a dozen ordinary mince pies.
The quincemeat was good but not better than ordinary mincemeat.

I had a go at real mincemeat last year, the kind with minced beef in as was traditional once upon a time. The suet survives to remind us of mincemeat's meaty past. The real mincemeat was nice, it is true you cannot taste the meat in it. So why bother putting it in? It seems such a waste of meat to me. Better in your bolognese.

The trouble with very short shortcrust is that it does tend to break easily. Particularly when you are trying to photograph a half-eaten pie in front of your festive holly.

Oops